My Breastfeeding Tips

22nd March 2018

Breastfeeding tips – I wish I had know before I started breastfeeding.

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It hurts! Oh boy it hurts! I feel like this is something that all new mums starting out breastfeeding need to know. It doesn’t hurt forever, the first couple of weeks are definitely the hardest…it does get easier though and it will stop hurting completely.

Breast milk is magic…literally a magic potion…that adapts to your babies needs, if they have a cold your milk provides the antibodies they need. Its so amazing, the milk changes colour and everything.

It may feel like a chore, it did for me with my second daughter. She breastfed every 45 minutes without fail…I actually felt like a human cow! Breast milk is digested really quickly, as its very light similar to skimmed cows milk.

Your nipples have more than one hole, in fact there are lots of tiny little holes…and milk comes out of all them at once. I was amazed when I first figured this out.

Your boobs will grow, mine doubled in size! Trust me your boobs will never be the same again…in more ways than one.

Your boobs will leak…at the most inconvenient times, be prepared always have spare breast pads with you. Maybe even a spare top, depending on how much you leak.

If you miss a feed for any reason, your boobs will become bricks…solid milk bricks ready to explode! No exaggeration, there would be times when I was about to feed my daughter that I would have to move in slow motion any rash movement and milk would spray everywhere! Literally!

Letdowns are interesting, I’m sure that my daughter would purposely start feeding, initiate the letdown and pull off at the same moment, just so she would get a face full of milk. Maybe she liked it, who knows…my little milk monster.

You may not lose weight as a result breastfeeding; I definitely didn’t, both times…in fact I may have gained a few pounds.

Be careful what you eat, There may be certain things you eat that just do not agree with your little ones tummy. Broccoli used to give my daughter a belly ache and awful wind.

Be prepared to feed anywhere…one time that I will always remember was when my daughter started screaming in the middle of the bridal shop; so I had to feed her while walking around looking at flower girl dresses. Cute.

Feed on demand, Babies feed at different frequency during the day and night. So even if your baby fed 15 minutes, don’t restrict them in anyway it will only makes things more stressful for you. Sometimes they will feed more often to increase your supply or they may cluster feed in the evening.

My final note

Is that breastfeeding is hard and takes a lot of patience; I struggled both times for different reasons. If you can’t breastfeed for any reason, please don’t beat yourself up about it. All that ultimately matters is that your baby is fed!

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18 thoughts on “My Breastfeeding Tips”

Love your ultimate note. I’m a fan of breastfeeding – I just wasn’t able to do it for a variety of reasons which I really struggled with. This time round I’m not putting any pressure on myself to do so.

I really wanted to breastfeed but wasn’t to be – just trying to keep up with twins as a single mum was so much hard work. I admire anyone who can do it though but if you can’t try pumping (I managed about 6 weeks!) or good ol’ formula. Whichever you choose it doesn’t matter as long as your baby has a full tummy! Great post.

It’s so different for us all isn’t it . I tried to breast feed each of my boys and was only able to feed one but it didn’t last long as he found it hard to latch. I wish I had stuck at it , especially with him as he took to it the best. You’ve some great knowledgeable information here x

When I had my little girl 14 weeks ago I had no idea how much it would hurt and how emotionally hard it could be. I powered through and still exclusively breast feeding now. It’s still hard when people hand her to me every time she cries saying ‘she’s hungry’ without seeing if it could be anything else. And oh my goodness the let down, who knew it could travel so far, I wake up most mornings soaked!! A great read, breastfeeding is hard work, but worth it!

Articles like this should be shared with all pregnant women. They need to come equipped with the full facts so it’s not a total shock to the system (as it was with me when my son was literally hanging off my boob 24/7!) and they can navigate the journey a bit easier Cx

I didn’t know many of these things as I don’t have a child. I’d just like to say, though-kudos on how you ended the post. Ultimately, whilst breast milk has so many benefits, you’re absolutely right that a mum shouldn’t beat herself up if she can’t or doesn’t want to breast feed. Great attitude.

I couldn’t breastfeed because of my coordination problems due to my autism, the guilt was horrific at first but glad I did what I felt comfortable with and I was much more happy. I think it is more important to focus are fed is best X #readysetlink